There came a sonic boom from overhead that rattled the window like a sudden hand.
Clouds, slowly gathering, obscured the sun somewhat. Knowing he was early, he parked his vehicle in the faculty lot and removed his heavy briefcase from the rear. The trunk of the car contained three heavy traveling bags.
He turned and began walking toward the far end of the campus. He felt a need to keep moving, to be ready to run if necessary. He thought of Morningstar at that moment, watching rocks and clouds and birds, feeling winds, rains, lightnings, and he wondered whether that one was instantly aware of every move he was making. He felt this to be so, and he wished that his friend were at hand to counsel him now. Did he know-or had he known for a long while- the outcome of what he was about to attempt?
The leaves and grasses had taken on that faint incandescence which sometimes precedes a storm. It was still quite warm, but now the heat was tempered by a light breeze from the north. The campus was almost deserted. He passed a group of students seated about the base of a fountain, comparing notes on an examination they had just taken. He thought he recognized two of them from his Introduction to Cultural Anthropology of several semesters back, but they did not look up as he went by.
As he passed Drake Hall, he heard his name called out.
"John! Doctor Shade!"
Halting, he saw the short, heavy figure of the young instructor Poindexter emerge from the doorway. The man's first name was also John, but since he had been a newcomer to their card group they had come to refer to him by his last name rather than confuse conversation.
Jack made himself smile as the man approached and nodded a greeting.
"Hi, Poindexter. I thought you'd be off recuperating by now."
"I still have some damn lab exams to grade," he said, breathing heavily. "I decided I wanted a cup of something hot, and the minute I closed the door to my office I knew what I'd done. The keys are on my desk and the door locks when it closes. There's nobody else in the building and the front office is shut down, too. I was standing there waiting for a guard to come by. I thought they might have access to a master key. Have you seen any guards?"
He shook his head.
"No, I just arrived a few moments ago. But I know the guards don't have access to masters.- Your office is on the far side of the building, isn't it?"
"Yes."
"I forget how high off the ground that would put it, but what about getting in through a window?"
"Too high, without a ladder-and they're both locked, anyhow."
"Let's go inside."
Poindexter ran the back of his hand across his ruddy forehead and nodded.
Entering and moving to the rear of the building, he removed a ring of keys from his pocket and fitted one into the lock of the door Poindexter indicated. It turned, there was a click, and he pushed the door open.
"Lucky," he said.
"Where'd you get a master?"
"It's not a master, it's the key to my office. That's why you're lucky."
Poindexter's face opened into a yellowish smile.
"Thanks," he said. "Thanks a lot. Are you in a hurry?"
"No, I'm early for what I was about."
"Then let me get us something from the machine. I still want to take a break."
"All right."
He moved into the office, placed his briefcase behind the door, while the other's footsteps receded and were gone.
He stared out the window at the gathering storm. Somewhere a bell began to ring.
After a time, Poindexter returned and he accepted the steaming cup he proffered.
"How's your mother?"
"She's doing well. Should be out quite soon."
"Tell her I said hello."
"I will. Thanks. Nice of you to visit her."
They sipped at their cups, then, "It is lucky you came along," Poindexter said. "Maybe ours are the only two offices on campus with the same lock. Hell, I would have settled for the ghost if he'd gotten me in."
"Ghost?"
"You know. The latest stunt."
"I'm afraid I haven't heard of it."
"...A white thing, allegedly seen flitting around in trees and on the tops of buildings."
"When did this start?"
"Just recently, of course. Last semester it was mutagenic rocks in the Geology Building. The one before that, I think, it was aphrodisiacs in the water coolers. Same as always. A semester closes like the end of the world, I guess, full of portents and rumors. What's the matter?"
"Nothing. Have a cigarette."
"Thanks."
He heard a tiny bleat of thunder, and the ever-present odor from the laboratories aroused unpleasant memories. That's why I never liked this building, he realized. It's the smells.
"Will you be with us this coming semester?" Poindexter asked.
"I think not."
"Oh, you got your leave approved. Congratulations!"
"Not exactly."
A look of concern flashed at him through thick glasses.
"You're not quitting, are you?"
"It depends-on several things."
"If I may be selfish about it, I hope you decide to stay."
"Thanks."
"You'll keep in touch, though, if you do go?"
"Of course."
A weapon, he decided. I need something better than what I've got. But I can't ask him. It's good that I stopped in here, though.
He drew on his cigarette, glanced out the window. The sky had continued to darken; there appeared to be some moisture on the pane.
He gulped and dropped his cup into the wastebasket. Mashing out his cigarette, he stood.
"I'd better run if I'm going to make it to Walker before it starts to come down."
Poindexter stood and shook his hand.
"Well, if I don't see you again for a while, good luck," he said.
"Thanks-The keys."
"What?"
"The keys. Why don't you take them off the desk and put them in your pocket now, just in case?"
Poindexter blushed and did it. Then he chuckled.
"Yes. I wouldn't want to do that again, would I?"
"I hope not."
He retrieved his briefcase while Poindexter lit the candles above his desk. There came a flash in the sky, followed by a low rumble.
"So long."
"Good-bye."
He departed and hurried to the Walker Buiding, pausing only to break into a laboratory and steal a bottle of sulfuric acid, taping the stopper in place.
8
HE TORE OUT the first pages of the print-out and spread them on the table he had appropriated. The unit continued its clicking, drowning out the sounds of the rain.
He returned to the machine, tore out the next page. He placed it beside the others and regarded them.
There came a sound like scratching from the direction of the window, and he jerked his head upright, nostrils dilated.
Nothing. There was nothing there.
He lit a cigarette and dropped the match on the floor. He paced. He checked his wrist-watch. A candle flickered above its sconce and the wax slid down its side. He moved to the window and listened to the wind.
There came a click from the door, and he turned and faced it. A large man entered the room and regarded him. He removed a dark rain hat, placed it on the chair beside the door, ran a hand through his thin, white hair.
"Doctor Shade," he said, nodding and unbuttoning his coat.
"Doctor Quilian."
The man hung his coat beside the door, produced a handkerchief and began wiping his glasses.
"How are you?"
"Fine, thank you. Yourself?"
"Fine."
Dr. Quilian closed the door, and the other returned to the machine and tore out more pages.
"What are you doing?"
"Some figuring for that paper I told you about-a couple of weeks ago, I guess."
"I see. I just recently learned about your arrangement here." He gestured toward the machine. "Whenever anyone cancels out, you're right there to take over his computer time."
"Yes. I keep in touch with everyone on the roster."
"There have been an awful lot of cancellations recently."